There aren’t many moments we feel as proud as when we see a car we curated being used as intended, especially when the car in question is an old Ferrari. You can then imagine that showing up at this year’s Ferrari Cavalcade and seeing four cars very close to our hearts eating up the miles in Italy was almost tear moving. Four very special Ferrari’s we found new caretakers for were back in their birth country, and they didn’t skip a beat while driving up the dolomites.

We are of course talking about 3409GT, 5061GT, 06601, and 14857. One of our favourite collector pieces we have ever sold, chassis 3409GT, is a Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta we imported from the United States and have had the chance to sell twice in Germany. Born as a steel version in May 1962 and delivered in native Italy through Crepaldi in Milan, it was imported to California in 1970, and received a state-of-the-art restoration at Paul Russell and Company. It received several awards, naley Best in Show and Best in lass at the Lime Rock Concours and Amelia Island Concours, and won Platinum Award at the Ferrari Classiche Concours d’Eleganza at the Finali Mondiali in 2016. We bought the car from America in 2018 and sold it to one of Munich’s and Germany’s most important Ferrari collections at the time. We sold it once more, in 2020, to its current caretaker who has enjoyed driving it this summer, a lot.

5061GT is a rare 330 America, often mistaken for a 250 GTE but actually a completely different animal. Fifty of them were ever made, and it is believed that a lot less are still alive today. But more than its excellent power delivery, it is the specification of this very car that made it one of our favourite to handle: take a moment to appreciate its Azzuro Acrilico body on its Blu leather interior. Absolutely stunning. We found a new home to 5061GT a few years ago and it’s been the current owner’s favourite car he ever owned.

We have a soft spot for the 275 GTB, arguably Ferrari’s prettiest and most complete car from the 60’s. We had the chance of handling an early 275 GTB/2, chassis 06601, which we’ve sold in 2019 to a great friend who’s been using it since at every Cavalcade Classiche. Sold new through Luigi Chinetti in New York in 1964, it wasn’t until in the early 2000’s that this 275 came back to Europe. We curated the car from a collection in South Germany and found a new German home for it.

And least but not least, we recently handled the stunning Daytona Spider chassis 14857, finished in Grigio Ferro over a Pelle Rossa interior. The new owner didn’t waste time and had the car up and ready for its first big outing.

The Daytona Spider and the 330 America are maintained by our Engineering department and received an inspection before and after the Cavalcade. Our mechanics listen to the needs of these technological masterpieces and make sure they perform flawlessly so that no bad surprises invite themselves during the event. We transport the cars from our storage in Munich to Italy and back, and make sure the customer drives his car with the mind at peace.

In a Nutshell: The Monterey Car Week 2023

The Mekkah of extravagant and rare cars is the rendezvous of the year for all automobile enthusiasts. We indulged the 9-hour time difference between Europe and California and flew there to check the auctions as well as the different events around town and of course, the highlight of the week, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

After a long flight and a 2-hour drive from SFO to Monterey, we started to notice a significant change in the type of cars on the road: a silver 300SL Roadster, a couple of McLaren’s, a red Ferrari F50…clearly, we had reached our destination. As with every year, the week is packed with auctions and events, too many cars to see and too many people to catch up with, which makes this week of the year enjoyable but quite stressful as well.

The first auction of the week took place at the Monterey Jet Center courtesy of Broad Arrow (which will go by the new name of Radius in the future), which had a great lineup of cars, mainly from the 90’s, such as a Japanese 11k km Ferrari F50 and a low-mileage Honda NSX-R NA1. But a few pre-war cars were also offered for sale, such as a Mercedes-Benz 500k Cabriolet A. In total, the sale grossed shy of 24 million USD with 95% of the cars at the venue finding a new home.

The highlight of the auctions must have been the ex-Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 412P, from the collection of James Glickenhaus, consigned to Bonhams. The most anticipated car started at a high starting price and only received two bids, both of which were on the phone, which was enough to buy the Ferrari at 27.5m USD, amounting to 30.255m USD with buyer’s premium. Other highlights of the sale included a 1966 Porsche 906, a Mercedes-Bez 300SL Roadster, an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 and a 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta which didn’t sell. The auction grossed a total of almost 51m USD and a 71% sold rate.

On the same day, Gooding opened their sale with another highlight of the week, the very original Ferrari 250 GT SWB, with an incredibly beautiful and patinated interior and paint, a true reference car. Guided at 9m to 11m USD, the Passo Corto found a new home for 9.5m USD all-in. Another highlight of the sale was the incredible, one of two, Tahiti Blu Lamborghini Miura SV, sold all-in for 3.58m USD. Pre-war automobiles have been slowing down in the last few years, but this didn’t prevent the extremely rare 1914 Mercer Type 35-J Raceabout to sell way over estimate, culminating at 4.79m USD. On both days combined, Gooding was the second highest grossing auction at this year’s Car Week, with around 96.7 million Dollars and 80% of the lots sold.

RM Sotheby’s had a total of 202 cars consigned for the auction this year and thus by quite a lot the highest grossing sale at 155.5m USD. Several highlights were announced at the auction, including the Ferrari Classiche restored 250LM which failed to sell, the Steve McQueen 275 GTB/4 which saw its previous owner lose around 4m USD, a Jaguar XKSS which grossed 13.2 million USD, a D-Type which didn’t sell, a California SWB Spider which was offered around quite a bit in the previous months and which sold after the auction for a low price, and finally, the four-cam “Del Rio” which brought 3.8m USD all in. In total, RM was able to move 86% of the cars.

Last but not least, the Mecum sale saw some interesting cars such as the 275 GTB Pirelli development car with flares at the back sticking out, a very beautiful black 275 GTB/4 with period racing history, and an interesting 400 Superamerica LWB with open headlights.

Outside the auctions, there was still plenty to see especially at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion with an eclectic lineup of cars. It is one of the rare opportunities we have to see and hear these fantastic machines going for it on one of America’s best racetracks. As a bystander, the track is exactly what you wish for: open paddocks, short distances to different parts of the racetrack such as the Corkscrew, and amazingly, you get to get quite close to the racecars while they are on track. There was something for every taste: Mustangs, Shelby Cobras, Porsche 962s and 935s, a Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, several pre-war racing machines, and the occasional SWB or 312P in the paddock. Quite a different event to the Pebble Beach Concours on Sunday, where the cars are polished every one hour to look at their best while the judges look for the best of show, which this year, was the RM-restored Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster. The list of cars present at the venue was of course exceptional, with unicorns such as one of five McLaren F1 LM or the ever-stunning one-off Mercedes-Benz SSK “Count Trossi” of Ralph Lauren.

Overall, the week was as we expected very busy, with too many things happening at the same time and a weird sense of pressure. Still, it was good to see that the passion and desire for these petrol-engined cars was still alive, and that the market although as expected slightly corrected, was still going strong for the more recent automobiles.